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Homily UUCA is a community of faith that encourages and supports our individual spiritual quests out of which we act together for social justice. Many of you have heard these words before and recognize them as UUCA's mission statement. From a personal standpoint, I heard these words when I joined the Board of Trustees 3 years ago and I have to honestly say that that I really didn't fully appreciate their meaning. They are nice words, but when you break down the words, they come down to "Community" "Spiritual Quests" and "Social Justice." At UUCA, we are a very large community with active groups, made up of many interesting people. For Social Justice, our congregation has a long history in actively participating in civil rights and nothing made me prouder than our involvement in same sex marriage while I was President of this congregation. However, you always associate any religious affiliation with "spiritual" words, so spiritual quest sounded good, but provided me no context. I never felt "spiritual" and certainly, did not feel like I was on any quest. Then, through luck and good fortune (truly, I mean it!), I became President-Elect of this congregation. In order to learn more about being a leader of this community, Laura (my wife) and I attended General Assembly in Long Beach, CA. As some of you heard, I am easily swayed by the word "free" (remember, how I got here, free babysitting, but that is another story) and attended something called the Asian/Pacific Islander Caucus FREE LUNCH get together. Imagine my surprise at meeting other UUs who looked like me! This magical moment brought context to my community and social justice by adding that key ingredient called Spirtual Quest! Because you see, I never really thought of myself as a "Person of Color" until that moment and never felt affiliated with anyone, especially other Asian/Pacific Islanders. How things quickly change since that moment. In the 2 years that I have been associated with this group, I have done the following: 1) Rediscovered my family and my roots. I have been making a conscious effort to reconnect. I met my cousin twice this year that I haven't seen in 35 years! Frightening, isn't it? For many people from the South, this is an unbelievable statement. 2) Learning about my family history. My cousin filled in some of those, especially the "scandalous" ones (aren't we all People Magazine readers, after all?), but also that my uncle, aunt, and Grandfather were interred at Manzanar, CA and Poston, Arizona. 3) Meeting other Asian Pacific Islanders in the metro Atlanta area and beyond and have actually started following some of those traditions, such as New Year's (big party, special food). Whether this is true or not, even my mother thinks I understand Japanese much better than I use to and were surprised to meet so many Asian Pacific Islanders at our house during a recent visit. Today, I have the proud honor of hosting at UUCA, the 4th Annual Asian/Pacific Islander Caucus meeting. I have old and new friends from North and South California, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. and local here at Atlanta here today. So, I have started my spiritual quest. I am happy to share my quest with you today and I look forward to what I will find with you, my family, and the new adventures along the way. Some of you may have quests as well and are on searches. I feel like mine is spiritual because I am truly learning and discovering things that cannot be read and discussed, but only experienced. Isn't that ultimately what we are seeking?
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